Tens of thousands of patients waiting for routine treatment in Portsmouth

The figures come as a health think tank warns waiting lists will 'continue to swell' under pressures on the NHS.

NHS England figures show 49,489 patients were waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust at the end of February – up from 48,724 in January, and 45,543 in February 2022.

Of those, 1,423 (3%) had been waiting for longer than a year.

The median waiting time from referral at an NHS Trust to treatment at Portsmouth Hospitals Trust was 13 weeks at the end of February – the same as in January.

Nationally, 7.2 million people were waiting to start treatment at the end of February.

Elsewhere, more than 1,000 patients were waiting for routine treatment at the Solent Trust in February.

There were 1,317 patients waiting for non-urgent elective operations or treatment at the Solent Trust,who offer community and mental health services across an area which includes Portsmouth.

That figure was up from 1,279 in January, and 1,042 in February 2022.

Saoirse Mallorie, senior analyst at The King’s Fund think tank, said: ‘In their elective recovery plan, Ministers set the NHS an ambitious target to eradicate 18-month waits for planned hospital care by April 2023.

‘Today’s figures show that huge strides have been made towards that goal, bringing down the number of 18-month waits from 69,300 to 29,800 in a year.’

‘However, patients are still facing unacceptably long waits and we can expect to see the overall waiting list, which currently stands at 7.2 million people, continue to swell as the NHS grapples with sustained pressures.’

Separate figures show 1.6 million patients in England were waiting for a key diagnostic test in February – the same as in January.

At Portsmouth Hospitals Trust, 8,154 patients were waiting for one of 12 standard tests, such as an MRI scan, non-obstetric ultrasound or gastroscopy at this time.

Of them, 2,094 (26%) had been waiting for at least six weeks.

Dr Tim Cooksley, president of the Society for Acute Medicine, said: ‘We are heading for extremely troubled times ahead in urgent and emergency care.

‘Overcrowding in emergency departments and acute medical units means many patients are still not receiving timely and high-quality patient care.

‘It reflects the day-to-day experience of teams delivering acute medical care in emergency departments, often in corridors and other unsuitable environments, rather than in appropriate wards.’

Other figures show cancer patients at Portsmouth Hospitals Trust are not being seen quickly enough.

The NHS states 85% of cancer patients urgently referred by a GP should start treatment within 62 days.

But NHS England data shows just 60% of patients urgently referred by the NHS who received cancer treatment at Portsmouth Hospitals Trust in February began treatment within two months of their referral.

That was up from 49% in January, but down from 75% in February 2022 last year.

NHS national medical director, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, said: ‘The last few months have been demanding for the NHS as record numbers of patients have come forward for care on top of hugely disruptive strike action.

‘This data shows demand on services is not relenting with A&E attendances and ambulance calls outs in March recorded at the highest level so far this year – even higher than a very busy January.’

He added there were positive signs for the NHS, particularly in reducing the longest waiting times.